Top Ten Film Sequels that are better than the original film

When studio executives say ‘sequel', you hear ‘better start building the coffin’ and when they say ‘straight-to-DVD’ you're at the wake grieving at the loss of a promising or great franchise while also getting drunk and seeing if a combination of alcohol and grief make certain people's pants very easy to get in to. Erm, the point is that sequels are usually just awful for many reasons; different actors, different director, different themes, disregarding continuity and mischaracterisations. But once in a blue moon, a sequel will not only be good but better that the original..... did you hear that? That is the sound of zombies coming into your area because your MIND WAS JUST BLOWN!!! And this countdown is to prove my claim, so let’s begin:

'I'm not over-compensating, PUNK'

 10. Magnum Force

You’re probably wondering what this numberless film is a sequel to. Well, it is a sequel to the first Dirty Harry film (there were three others to follow), and the screenplay really sets up the character of Dirty Harry. In the first film, Dirty Harry is just a rough cop who follows his own rules, but in Magnum Force, we question Harry’s moral standpoint, because in the film there are murdering vigilantes roaming the city, similar to Dirty Harry who are also cops. The film shows that while Harry has his own justice, it’s the right kind of justice. And it sets the fact that being Harry’s partner is just a death sentence. If you find out you’re being sent to be the partner of Dirty Harry, review your will and medical insurance and pray the bad guy is a bad shot.

'KKHHHHAAAANNNN!!!!'

 9. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Star Trek: the Motion Picture was fairly OK film but it followed too much of the philosophy of Roland Emmerich; pretty visual effects over storyline. Plus the Starfleet uniforms looked absolutely ridiculous. Then came along Star Trek II which was a godsend that not only focused on story, but actually had a good story that you could take seriously. The story was very Shakespearean with a pinch of Moby Dick, dealing with old age, sacrifice, revenge, scientific advancement and Ricardo Montalban’s chiselled pecs. And how can you not love the hamminess of both Kirk and Khan. And I have to admit that this is one of the few films that actually made me teary eyed, at both Spock's death and his funeral. Goddamn you, 'Amazing Grace'.

'Cause we got a little convoy rockin' through the night'

 8. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

This is a really excellent post-apocalyptic film that is just so over-the-top and lavish, it’s almost realistic. The first Mad Max was set in a world where society was crumbling but there were some vestiges of law and order, which mostly wore biker jackets and drove badass patrol cars, but in Mad Max 2, society has already crumbled. There is no law, no order, just survival of the fittest or you can wear your gimp suit and try to please Lord Humungus to survive, and the action scenes are just amazingly filmed and really tense, plus the story was better structured than Mad Max, because the revenge plot just seemed like filler, whereas the ‘redemption and finding purpose’ of this sequel is much better played out. And this is one of the few films with a persistent child character who ISN’T annoying and unnecessary.

'What happens when the supermodels go to far?'

7. Evil Dead 2

Many people argue that Evil Dead 2 is just a remake but that’s just a misunderstanding. Evil Dead 2 actually begins with a recap of the last film, which makes it a sequel, so let's roll with it. But what makes Evil Dead 2 better than The Evil Dead is that it is fricking awesome and focuses more on comedy which was a good direction to go with to accommodate Bruce Campbell’s hooky acting and his brilliant one-liners. Plus, this is a film where a man is fighting demonic hordes with his hand being replaced with a chainsaw. :O

'Pink sky- first indication of zombie apocalypse'

 6. Dawn of the Dead

George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead was the beginning of a genre that nerds and video gamers would hump more than a dog with the soul of Barry White and Marvin Gayle and did make interesting and daring commentary on racism and still an enjoyable film with an excellent soundtrack, but it’s sequel Dawn of the Dead surpassed it all. The film included glorious and gruesome deaths, great characters and a subtle and humorous critique on American consumerism with the zombie hordes shuffling and lifelessly moving through a shopping mall. How can you not laugh at such a well constructed criticism, I find myself laughing at it, no matter how many times I see it.

'Welcome to the birthplace of the Olsen Twins'

5. Aliens

Many people will contest that James Cameron’s Aliens is just on par with Ridley Scott’s Alien but I just prefer Aliens. Now, don’t get me wrong, I loved Alien. The set pieces, the premise, the characters and the effects (and it is one of the many films that made me defecate my pants), but I just love the tense action of Aliens, as well as the Marine characters that have set-up the clichés in many rip-offs; the ‘possible lesbian, Hispanic one’, the ‘Black drill sergeant’, the ‘only fucker with a brain’ and the ‘one who acts like a badass but goes into the foetal position the minute the shit starts getting real’. And I just absolutely love the fight between Ripley and the Alien Queen, especially that badass one-line that‘s actually good and well-thought out, a feat only Schwarzenegger (sometimes) and Bond (sometimes) can do.

'Only a Republican can protect our great state from genocidal, self-aware, liberal computers'

4. Terminator 2: Judgement Day

James Cameron’s The Terminator was a good sci-fi film with a very simple story; a huge Austrian robot has been sent back in time to kill a women so that a human resistance in the future will not exist, so said resistance sends someone back to stop the cyborg,  see…simple. But Terminator 2 was a little more complex, making us ask many questions; like what qualifies as human? Can killing a few people be justified if it prevents genocide? Can humanity be taught or is just for humans?
 And the villain of the T-1000 is truly terrifying, while Schwarzenegger’s Terminator stands out like a Catholic at a bake sale; the T-1000 is more inconspicuous and acts human and even dresses like a cop, as if we didn’t have paranoid thoughts about our police being similar to an Orwellian organisation with no regulation.

'Gordon, maybe we should go with that searchlight signal'

3. The Dark Knight

Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins was a very faithful adaptation of the greatest comic book character. Yeah, fuck Superman and Spider-Man, the Caped Crusader kicks so much ass, his boot might be a possible  homosexual. Best of all, he’s not wishy-washy with his ethics. With Spider-Man, he will defend innocent people and not kill, but he will make a deal with the Devil that dissolves his marriage and brings Aunt May back to life, completely against her wishes, but with Batman his ethics are built from steel and not so easily bent and Batman Begins shows that. It shows how Batman became who he is and what demons he had to fight to get there. My complaint with it, however, is the villain, but not Liam Neeson’s Ra’s al Ghul because he was awesome. No, I’m taking about Dr. Jonathan Crane AKA Scarecrow, portrayed by Cillian Murphy. I just don’t think the blue-eyed, long-swift Irish meadow hair and boyish good looks of Murphy fit with a psychotic man who has created a toxin that can send people insane by their own fears.
But The Dark Knight throws all my complaints out the window because it was awesome. The story was well-crafted and could be easily followed, both the Joker and Two-Face are extremely faithful to their comic origins, every character was complex and riddled (almost close to Bruce Timm’s Batman: The Animated Series) and the action was amazing and kinetic and well shot, and all that let’s you forgive Christian Bale’s Batman impersonation.

'Which one of these highly developed characters will be cut open and used for warmth?'

2. Star Wars: Episode V- The Empire Strikes Back

The first Star Wars (A New Hope) was a fine sci-fi film with a simplistic but engaging story; boy finds message, boy gets help, boy goes on space adventures, boy destroys the most powerful space station constructed with a really great design flaw, end. But the story of Empire was more climatic and bombastic and that is awesome; boy is member of Rebel Alliance, boy is attacked by snow monster, boy attacks walking tanks, boy then trains to become mystical warrior with sword made of light and you know the rest. The battles in Empire are just as epic and brilliantly shot as every fucking CGI rendered battle in the prequels, and the set pieces were just amazing and imaginative. And it made the Galactic Empire a credible threat, this ‘elite group of well-trained, well-armoured and precise Stromtroopers’ that was advertise in the first film but never showed up were actually present in this film and brought the Rebellion to the brink of collapsed, only for all that to be torn down by small, furry rodents with sticks and stones. Plus it was probably the second film where we actually listened to spoiler alerts, the first being Citizen Kane.

'Die Hard 4.1 will upgrade the kick-ass'

1. Die Hard 4.0 (Live Free or Die Hard)

I know I might get some flak for saying that something could be better than Die Hard, but put down your throwing fruits and vegetables, you 18th century theatre audience. Die Hard was and is a brilliant action film with a great hero and villain, a serious contender for ‘Citizen Kane of Action Films’, but what could beat it at that? Well, Citizen Kane 2: Rosebud's Revenge, but also Die Hard 4. Some will say that Die Hard 4’s story was a bit haphazard and the villain was a bit crap, but that could be that he is not a member of the Gruber family, and while those things may be true, let me describe to you some of Die Hard 4’s action scenes; John McClane fights an attractive, Asian ninja women on a Land Rover in a elevator shaft; John McClane steals a cop car, gets chased by an helicopter with gunmen and destroys the chopper by propelling the police car at the helicopter; John McClane is pursued by a Harrier Jump Jet while he is in a 18 wheeler truck that brings down an entire highway section. HOLY SHIT, the only way it could be more awesome is if a ninja Christopher Walken appeared. And the Justin Long sidekick is quite likable, and this film also deserves special mention because when a sequel to a franchise that has been dead for more than five years is released, it is suppose to fail, Die Hard 4 didn’t. Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker.

And those are my choices, and am I going to completely invalidate myself by doing a greater countdown for worst sequels? Maybe.

I’m Random Internet Critic and I criticise it because there isn’t an app for it…yet.